Stories Hidden in the Villages
by Unknown Marauder
Summary: A collection of drabbles, updated inconsistently. Everything from unlikely scenarios to humorous dialogue, you can find it here. No character or pairing is safe.
1. Fabric Shop of Horror

Welcome to my drabble collection. All that you shall read was done out of complete boredom, and more than likely tiredness. Enjoy!

Kabuto Yakushi pushed his glasses further up his nose, looking around nervously.

"Why," he asked himself, turning onto an empty road, "did Orochimaru-sama send me to do this?"

The young medial ninja sighed in frustration as he opened a door, which lead into a well-lit room. Lining the walls of the room were rolls upon rolls of fabrics, spools upon spools of thread, and tons of packages of ribbon.

"Hello, sir," a woman, probably in her mid to late twenties, greeted him with a smile. Kabuto smiled back nervously.

"HI. Um... I was sent by Oro-"

"Oh, Kabuto-kun, again?" another lady asked, looking at the Genin with pity. "He really needs to stop working you so hard. If he wants someone to go and fetch items, Orochimaru needs a wife."

Kabuto refrained from commenting about his master's Michael Jackson tenancies and nodded in agreement. The woman was right in one respect: someone else was needed to do this.

Fishing behind the counter, the lady who recognized Kabuto pulled out a large bag of materials.

"Here you go, Yakushi-kun," she said, smiling sympathetically. "And tell Tayuya that I said hello."

Kabuto nodded, grabbing the bag, wincing slightly at the weight. Who knew fabric, rope, and dye would weigh umpteen pounds?

"I will, Kaede-chan," he said, smiling kindly. Turning away from the counter, Kabuto left the store,taking the back roads so as not to be seen on his latest mission: the dreaded semi-monthly trip to the Jo-Anne Fabrics of Otogakure.

Well, there is is. I had fifteen minutes to pass before bed, and in that time, I give you insanity which closely resembles my own. Good lord, making an Orochimaru costume can kill ya, can't it?


	2. Relationships?

New Drabble! Me and a friend wrote this little bit of dialog out in English today, while we were bored of of our minds. Enjoy! It's between Deidara and Konan (the blue-haired girl) about, well, you'll see! I wrote Deidara, she wrote Konan.

WwWwWwWwWw

"Hello, Konan-chan, un!"

"..."

"Konan-chan, un?"

"...You're annoying..."

"Aww T.T That's not what you said last night, Konan-chan, un ."

"... You know I don't like you that way, Deidara! I love _Pein_-sama!"

"I know I know, I was joking, un!"

sigh "I'm leaving."

"But Konan-chan, I wanted to ask you something, un!"

"What about?"

"Well, it's about... well..._ relationships, _un."

"Who are you having a relationship with, Deidara-kun?"

"... A person, un . " 

"_Which_ person?"

sigh "T-Tobi, un."

"... Do I even want to help you?"

"But Konan-chan, I'm not used to being a... a ... a uke! I've never been on the bottom before, un!"

"..."

"That's why I wanted to ask you, Konan-chan. After all, well, I _assume_ that you're on the bottom when, um, _well, _un..."

Turning red "I'm not helping you."

"Why? Is it because I'm male? Blond? Say 'un' after every statement, un?"

"No, it' just that... um... Tobi! Deidara loves you!"

"Gah!" runs away

Tobi: Heh, Tobi is a good boy, in bed .


	3. Tis the Season

A little Christmassy drabble I decided to write while fueling my creativity with cherry cordial Hershey Kisses. Everyone eats Cherry Cordials differently; some suck out the fillings then eat the chocolate, some chew around the cherry and become disappointed when they find it's just a fondant lump, and then there's the people while just pop the cordial in their mouth and chew.

Equipped with that piece of practically useless information, let us continue onto the story of two young Leaf ninjas, talking about, you guessed it, cherry cordials. But, then again, what is the holiday season without… well, you'll see ;) Warning: ShikaIno content.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**'Tis the Season**

A blond kunoichi peeked out from around the doorway, her blue eyes surveying the room. The faint glow of the fireplace gave the room warmth. Across the room was a window, the sill dusted with still-falling snow, and, off to the side, was a sofa. The perfect Yuletide setting and the room was… empty.

Ino Yamanaka let out a disappointed sigh. She had set up the room so perfectly, and they were late. They, of course, pertained to her team: Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma. Practically dragging her bare feet across the carpeted floor, Ino made her way to the couch and plopped down onto the soft cushion. In her left hand, she held a medium-sized, bell-shaped box that was secured closed by a scarlet ribbon. A small tag hung off of a bow loop.

To: Shikamaru

From: Ino Happy Christmas!

She stared at the box for about five seconds before setting it down next to her on the sofa, and she leaned her head back to rest it on the cushy furnishing.

"Oi, you should keep a better watch on these," a familiar voice said, and Ino turned her head to the side. There, right next to her, sat Shikamaru, not even looking at her. In his hands was the bell-shaped box, and the ribbon was lying untied on Shikamaru's lap. The tag, however, sat neatly on the box.

The kunoichi sat up. "About time you got here," she said, refusing to look at him for fear the newly added shade of pink to her complexion would be noticed. "And I _was_ watching them, for your information."

"Uh-huh. If you were watching them, you'd have seen me sit down and undo the bow before I said anything," Shikamaru pointed out, lazily, opening the box and smiling slightly at the neatly arranged Cherry Cordials inside.

"You can be so troublesome."

"Oh! So I'm the troublesome one?" Ino asked, almost laughing, and looked at Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow. "I do believe those words are coming from a certain Chuunin that-"

"'That' what?" He popped one of the cordials into his mouth and chewed on it nonchalantly. "Please, do tell."

"Well, for one," Ino started, grabbing a cordial, "one that doesn't know how to eat one of these properly! You don't just put it in your mouth and chew on it. You chew a hole in the top, suck the filling out, and _then_ eat the chocolate!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and places another cordial in his mouth. "This is how I've been eating them for my entire life. It's the method I prefer. Besides, the slurping process is too troublesome."

Ino almost spat out the filling of her cherry cordial. "It's the best way to savor the experience!" The kunoichi stuck her tongue out at Shikamaru, unawares that the fondant cherry was sitting, perfectly balanced, on the tip of her tongue. She blinked in surprise and that slight movement sent the cherry rolling off her tongue and into Shikamaru's waiting hand.

"I can't just let you eat it alone," he said, tossing the fondant lump into the air, and catching it in his mouth. "It's too much of a drag."

Not a second passed after that cherry landed in his mouth before Ino tackled him. The bell-box flew off to the side, sending the rest of the chocolate-covered confections onto the carpeted floor.

"Give me back the cherry…" Ino growled, pinning Shikamaru down by sitting on his chest. "No one steals the cherry from me."

Quickly, Shikamaru performed a few quick hand symbols behind Ino's back and his normally nonchalant expression was replaced with amusement.

"Make me."

Ino blinked as she felt her head being pulled up, just as Shikamaru's was leaning back to gaze at the ceiling. Just above them, as fate would have it, was a berried sprig of festive mistletoe. Their eyes met again and the kunoichi felt herself being pulled by the Shadow Possession jutsu; Pulled into a passionate kiss.

The kiss had to have lasted five minutes before the door opened and Ino felt the jutsu release.

"Whoa ho ho! And I always thought Shikamaru would be on top," Asuma laughed, his traditional cigarette replaced with a peppermint stick. Beside him stood Chouji, well, more appropriately, _lay_ Chouji. Upon entering the scene, the poor Genin fainted.

Ino quickly pulled herself off of Shikamaru. "We weren't doing anything, Sensei. It's the law of mistletoe. He started it!" She pointed an accusing finger at Shikamaru, who didn't bother moving from his position except to position his arms across his chest.

"Meh, that kiss was a drag anyway."

"A drag?!" Ino's hair on the back of her neck bristled. She didn't even kiss him of her own will, and it was a _drag_?!

Asuma reached into his vest, rummaging about. "Oh, and Shikamaru, I brought your reindeer antlers for you to-"

Shikamaru ran into the shadows, hoping to escape, but Asuma caught him easily, placing the antlers on the Chuunin's head. Ino began to laugh at the traditional holiday antics when something small and red rolled out of her mouth. Catching it swiftly, she blushed, realizing it was the fondant cherry Shikamaru had taken from her.

After the antler struggle, Ino gave the fondant center of the sweet back to Shikamaru without help from the Shadow Possession jutsu.

Needless to say, the both found a better way to eat a cherry cordial.


	4. An OC in Love

I never thought I would fall in love…

After he raised me from my eternal sleep, I felt that I was the black sheep of God, not worthy now for either Paradise or Hell… I would just obediently serve with my borrowed life, and pray for the best.

Once again, I never expected I would be blessed with the emotion of love.

I died young, a shinobi still in my prime, slaughtered by my relentless weasel of a cousin. Yes, that one. Uchiha Itachi.

Oh, pardon me, my name is Uchiha Haruhi, but that doesn't matter, now does it?

It was a simple mission that I was with my Master and my, well, teammate, on; kill a couple of Genin and a sensei that threatened my Master's plans for Konoha. The boy, Daisuke, my teammate's younger brother, was easy enough to gain favor with. Her to-be apprentice, Ryoko, however, is a jealous little thing… I may have to watch my back around her.

Upon my return to the cliff where Master worked to retrieve a soul, little time was wasted. We could only gather one soul; that of the swordsman… Momichi Zabuza. Unfortunately, Haku could not be raised from his eternal slumber. Lucky little bugger.

The freaking genius that my master is never dug the body up before trying to bring Zabuza to life. Thus, he had six feet of dirt to shovel through and possibly suffocate in. I feel fortunate that he got me while my corpse was fresh and just lying beneath a white blanket. After those many years, I was almost certain that Momichi would be moldy.

I was dead wrong.

When he finally broke the surface, I was amazed at how wonderfully preserved he was. Almost as if he had not decayed a day. Muscles on his chest still firm, blood from his wounds coagulated to his back, what got me most though were his eyes. As brief as I saw them, I could almost read his every feeling; wonder, fright, worry, apprehension, a thousand emotions whirring around so fast that even my Sharingan could not watch them at normal speed.

Oh yeah, I have Sharingan, but that's not important.

"Where is Haku?" those were the first words he said when he finally came to his senses, and I immediately felt a pang of guilt; another emotion I had saved from my actual life. He asked my Master this again, what had happened. I stayed silent while my sadistic Master and his ungodly servant told him what had happened.

Zabuza wanted nothing to do with the plan. Of course he wouldn't. Neither had I at first, but then master did the same thing to him that taught me my place in the grand scheme he had cooked up. He squeezed his fist, and the noble swordsman fell to the ground, clutching his chest in pain.



My first instinct was to run to him. His pain seemed to tug me to him, I wanted to comfort him, let him know that he had someone in his same ungodly predicament. But my teammate held me back, glaring at me. I watched helplessly.

Over the night, I tried to bond with Zabuza. He was older than me, older by far, and his pain at being taken from the thing that he cared most about was evident. I was able to strike up conversation once; I cleaned the blood from his back, I gave him a new bandage for over the lower half of his mouth, and I cared for him.

In more ways than one, I cared for the living-dead man, who seemed so like me, yet so different.

The next morning, we all assembled at the Great Naruto Bridge for the celebration of its building anniversary. The four of us against three Genin and a one-armed sensei, it almost looked like we had a clear victory.

The Pyronus brat has exceptional skill… they all do, in fact, but that's not the point. What looked to have been a surefire win for us became more questionable. These three kids, penguin, and teacher had all gained something since the last confrontation in Suna. They were more organized, more like a team. I wish my team was like that when I was alive.

The one who surprised everyone most was the penguin girl, Taen Guli. Her animal-human combat was very impressive, but it wasn't her skill that caught us off guard. It was her jutsus.

Taen specialized in ice jutsu. One of her best, and one that seemed to captivate us, especially Zabuza, was the Glacier Crystalline Reflection jutsu, a special one handed down a very, very select line.

When she used that technique, I swore Zabuza somehow changed, and I had a hunch I knew why we couldn't get Haku back from the Spirit world. Something, deep down, told me that he had been reincarnated.

The battle went on, it was impressive, of course, and nothing could be expected less from some of the best Genin in Konoha. However, as all battles must, ours came to a dreadful end that still sickens me and makes me want to die again.

Momichi Zabuza had begun to face off with Minagawa Seiichirou, the sensei. It was a strictly taijutsu battle, and, for lacking one arm, Minagawa fought well.

Zabuza turned to look at Minagawa and was about to strike when a reflection from one of Taen's glacier crystals stared him dead in the eye. It was Taen, of course, but he didn't see that. What he saw, and I saw it too, was a tall, brown-haired boy, dressed in green. A strange aura seemed to glow around him and I knew what had happened. Minagawa's sword, infused with chakra, had gone straight through Zabuza, and the chakra was glowing in the mist.

I screamed. I shouted his name, I began to run to him, anything. I did not want to lose Zabuza! But that witch, that Pyronus witch who serves willingly under the man I am forced to call 'Master', held me back 

and clapped a hand over my mouth. I fought, but I felt my heart being squeezed and I silenced into a fit of tears. The three of us quickly disappeared a good distance from the bridge and the battle. When we landed, I was dealt a good slap from my teammate. 'Disorderly conduct', she said.

I still couldn't help but cry. I had fallen in love with a man who was killed before my eyes, and I could do nothing but watch and run… watch and run…

I want nothing more than to kill my Master and his pet… hopefully I will go to the same place as Zabuza…

Maybe…


End file.
